Trailers from Hell: Bernard Rose on Ken Russell’s ‘Billion Dollar Brain,’ Starring Michael Caine and Karl Malden

Back to the Sixties! concludes at Trailers from Hell, with director Bernard Rose introducing 1967’s “Billion Dollar Brain,” helmed by arthouse fave Ken Russell (“The Devils,” “Tommy”).

After producing the first two Harry Palmer movies to provide
a more realistic, intellectual alternative to his cartoonish James Bond series,
producer Harry Saltzman “Bonded” it up for this third entry after THE IPCRESS
FILE and FUNERAL IN BERLIN. Although a troubled production with BIG SLEEP-level
plot complications and an unlikely director in Russell,
it’s considered the liveliest of the Palmer series. Magnetic leading lady
Francoise Dorleac (Catherine Deneuve’s sister) was killed in an car accident
soon after filming completed.